Monday, May 08, 2006

There's a new meaning for backup when it comes to police raids and drug busts.

Members of the Wayne County Sheriff's Special Response Team are bringing along doctors to accompany them in situations where there are barricaded gunmen, hostages and bomb scares.

The doctors are part of the St. John Hospital and Medical Center Tactical Emergency Medical Support team, which was formed about 14 months ago as the brainchild of Dr. Robert Smith.

As part of his residency, Smith, 34, had to come up with a research project. Smith, who previously worked as a reserve police officer in Albion and a paramedic and firefighter for the Farmington Hills Fire Department, had heard about similar efforts across the country.

He pitched the idea a couple of years ago to a sheriff's deputy during a paramedics training exercise in Wayne County, and it caught Sheriff Warren Evans' attention.

"It made perfect sense to me," Evans said. "If someone goes down or there's a problem out there, I want the officers to have the best treatment as quickly as they possibly can."

Nall for Governor

Medical Marijuana Blogs

Dr.Tom's Medical Marijuana Blog
Med MJ blog by an MD; it's focused mainly on the surprising implications of what he's learned
(and the government doesn't know) about pot use.
It's based on a study of those hoping to be designated as "medical"
in accordance with California's much misunderstood law.